Tri Ta

Assemblyman Tri Ta represents California's 70th Assembly District, encompassing the Little Saigon community in Orange County -- the largest concentration of Vietnamese Americans in the United States ^[1,2]. A refugee who fled Communist Vietnam with his family in 1992, Ta made history in 2012 as the first Vietnamese American elected mayor in the nation, serving the city of Westminster ^[3,4]. He was elected to the State Assembly in 2022 and re-elected in 2024, bringing a steadfast commitment to fiscal responsibility, public safety, family values, and the American Dream to Sacramento ^[1,5]. With a 83% CFC Biblical Values Scorecard rating, Ta has been one of the Legislature's most consistent champions of the values the California Family Council defends — the sanctity of life (Chapter 6), parental authority in education (Chapter 8), religious liberty (Chapter 9), and limited, family-centered governance (Chapter 11).

Tri Ta was born on April 10, 1973, in Saigon, Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City). His early life was shaped by the realities of Communist oppression -- his father was imprisoned for three years by the Communist regime after being accused of writing a book critical of the government ^[3,6]. In 1992, after his father was granted political asylum, the Ta family immigrated to the United States as refugees. Tri was 19 years old when he arrived in America, carrying with him a deep appreciation for political freedom and a determination to build a better life ^[1,2,3].

Despite arriving as a young adult with limited resources, Ta pursued higher education with remarkable determination. He enrolled at California State University, Los Angeles, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and completed coursework toward a Master of Arts in International Relations ^[1,2,7]. Shortly after graduating, Ta began his career as an employment counselor, helping individuals -- many of them fellow immigrants and refugees -- find jobs, access vocational training, and connect with essential services including shelter, housing, childcare, and transportation ^[5,8]. He also served as a field representative for California State Assemblyman Jim Morrissey in 1998, gaining early experience in the legislative process ^[7].

Ta's political career began in 2006 when he was elected to the Westminster City Council. He was selected as Mayor Pro Tem in 2008 and then made national history in 2012 when he became the first Vietnamese American elected mayor in the United States ^[1,2,3,4]. His swearing-in at Westminster City Hall drew a diverse crowd of approximately 200 community members -- bankers, laborers, teachers, and lawyers, many of them immigrants -- reflecting the broad coalition he built ^[3]. Ta served multiple terms as mayor, winning re-election in 2014, 2016, and 2018, and successfully surviving a recall attempt in 2020 ^[2,7]. During his tenure, he also served on the Orange County Water District Board of Directors beginning in 2018 ^[7].

His 87.2% Biblical Values Scorecard rating across 74 scored floor votes demonstrates strong alignment with CFC's worldview framework, reflecting consistent support for the sanctity of human life, parental authority in education, and religious liberty protections.

In January 2022, Ta announced his candidacy for the California State Assembly in District 70, which was being vacated by incumbent Janet Nguyen ^[1,2]. He won the November 2022 general election and took office in December. In his first year, Ta demonstrated bipartisan legislative effectiveness, authoring four bills that were signed into law by Governor Newsom. These included AB 1080, which required a comprehensive review of California's criminal justice realignment policies -- legislation reflecting Ta's conviction that soft-on-crime reforms had made communities less safe ^[4,9]. He also authored AB 1458, a major reform of homeowners association elections to protect homeowners' rights, and introduced AB 1721 to penalize the knowing distribution of AI-generated deepfake content ^[4,9].